


Mock Date

by Jess4400



Series: we're not broken just bent, we can learn to love again [1]
Category: The Good Doctor (TV 2017)
Genre: Canon Autistic Character, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, If only everyone was as emotionally honest as this, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Meltdown, Multi, OT3, Polyamory, Sappy admitting feelings trope, a few curse words, but not directed at anyone, internalized ableism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-17
Updated: 2018-01-17
Packaged: 2019-03-06 01:14:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13400310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jess4400/pseuds/Jess4400
Summary: Claire and Jared asked Shaun a question. They didn't expect this. They needed to set things right.





	Mock Date

Shaun choked on his hot chocolate and stared incredulously at the grinning faces of his two best friends sitting across from him. He paid little mind to the thin line of brown liquid trailing down his chin, only swiping at it absently with sleeve while he digested the proposal. He suddenly became hyper-aware of every sensation in the quaint cafe-- spoons clinking back and forth against cups as they stirred sugar, the baristas grinding coffee again and again and again, the thunderous grumble of the blender, the shrill laughter of the other patrons-- Laughing. Laughing  _ at _ him. They had to be. This was another trick. As soon as he got his hopes up, they were all going to turn around and laugh in his face for being so gullible. This was Colleen all over again; this was Lea all over again. Both girls gave him false hope that anyone would  _ ever _ want to be with someone like him. He was so stupid. But not anymore. Now, he knew better. He took a few calming breaths and tried to tame the rising betrayal in his heart.

“Stop smiling at me like that. It’s not funny.” Claire’s smile dropped as she glanced at Kalu with furrowed eyebrows and then back to him. She looked hurt, but her face didn’t match her intentions. Shaun crossed his arms. She must’ve been acting. She was pretending to be hurt so that Shaun wouldn’t suspect her plan. She was so smart.  

Shaun then studied Kalu. His face was harder to read, but he seemed just as confused. Offended. He felt the urge to stim rising but he tamped it down. He wouldn’t let them have the satisfaction of seeing how much they hurt him. From his past experience, that only makes him more of a target. He forced himself to glare into Claire’s eyes.

“Thanks for treating me. I’m leaving now.” He didn’t spare Kalu a single passing glance. He barely knew the guy. Claire was the only other resident he was really close to. He couldn’t really blame him, Shaun  _ had _ been getting in his way, so he probably jumped on Claire’s plan to get revenge. That’s fine. Shaun would want to get revenge on himself too if he were Jared. But Claire?

He tersely opened the fancy french door and stomped outside. He found the side of the building near the parking lot that wasn’t completely engulfed by shrubs and slid his back down the rough brick as he sat down. He felt the beginning of a meltdown forming, but he couldn’t bring himself to care anymore. He was too angry. Claire had the audacity to pretend to like him, make him believe that someone other than Glassman  _ actually _ cared about him, and then make a joke out of it? His arms unconsciously made their way to his mouth and he bit down. Hard. First, he focused on his two front teeth digging into his skin. Then, with a new bite each time, his incisors, his molars, and jaw clenching from the strain. He was going to have bruises tomorrow, he noted, but he didn’t mind. He deserved it for being so stupid. 

Now that he thought about it, It wasn’t really their fault. It was his. He shouldn’t have been so trusting. This is just the way relationships work after all; it’s nothing personal. Maybe if he apologized, they wouldn’t embarrass him too badly. Maybe, if he was lucky, he could convince them to still be his friends. Why did he still feel angry, though?

“Shaun?” Claire called, her steps crunching in the gravel. They came closer and closer until she was crouching down in front of him. Shaun flinched and hummed a high note, silently willing her to give him space for a moment. Thankfully, she backed up, but his relief was quickly replaced by frustration as she moved to sit beside him instead. He didn’t dare voice it though. He kept his arm in his mouth and tried not to rock.

“Shaun, we didn’t mean to make you upset. I promise. If you don’t want to date us, that’s totally fine! We aren’t angry. We just wanted to know if you were interested. We love you either way.” Shaun bit down harder and distrustfully lifted his head to meet her eyes for a short moment. Claire gave him a tight-lipped smile that he came to learn wasn’t really a smile, but instead an expression of pity. She wore it when she listened to terminal cancer patients tell her about the dreams they would never get to accomplish. She wore it when she watched a mother sign the consent forms to take her nine-year-old son off of the ventilator. He didn’t know why she was wearing it now, but it was really pissing him off.

“I said stop smiling! You don’t have to rub it in!” He turned away from her and kicked the gravel with his foot. He unhooked his teeth from around the crook of his arm and moved to start biting the joints of his fingers. He needed a harder texture to bite. He wanted to bite the rocks, but that would’ve probably made him seem crazier than he probably already did.

“Shaun,” Claire said patiently. “What am I rubbing in?” He chewed and rocked as he processed his emotions. His thoughts and feelings were intangibles. Every time he tried to form a sentence, the fragments of words scattered, just out of his reach, leaving him frustrated and unable to explain himself. He searched his memory for a script, any script, that he could use.

“Are you trying to mock me or encourage me?” He echoed a line from a conversation he remembered them having with Dr. Andrews. Claire tilted her head but listened as he rambled both sides of the conversation. “I’m trying to get to know you so I know when I should mock and when I should encourage. When’s the right time to mock you?” He wrapped his arms around his legs and pulled them close to his body.

“You think we’re mocking you.” Claire realized. She turned him around to face her, ignoring the face he made when her hands made contact with his shirt. He clasped his hands together and tried not to look at her face. He failed. She looked absolutely heartbroken.

“Shaun, we would never mock you. Why would you think that?” A lone tear fell from her eye and trailed down her face like melting butter. She must be a very good actress if she can cry that convincingly. Or maybe…

Shaun glanced back up at her to see her furiously wiping her eye with the back of her hand. Why was she crying? She wouldn’t bother crying if she was playing a trick on him. Shame started to seep into his bones as he could finally think more clearly. He came to a realization. Claire had always been there for him throughout his entire time at San Jose. She had no motive to betray him. She offered him advice countless times and covered for him when he made mistakes. Maybe she really  _ did _ care. Maybe Shaun was the one who was wrong. Thoughts of self-loathing bombarded his mind, but he pushed them aside in favor of begging for forgiveness. He needed her. She couldn’t be mad at him. She was the only person he could trust.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you,” he apologized in a panic. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you. Will you please still be my friend?” He clasped his hands tightly around his middle and waited for a response. Claire scrutinised him for what seemed like hours. Her attention was finally broken, however, by the sound of Jared approaching.

“Okay, I paid for the bill. Those guys must make a fortune off drinks, I can’t believe how-- Woah, is everything alright?” Shaun ducked his head and hid behind his knees and arms. Claire sat Jared down beside her and whispered the current situation into his ear. His eyes widened. The trio sat in silence for a minute, with Jared and Claire silently debating the best way to mediate the situation, and with Shaun wishing he could be anywhere else but there. Finally, Jared broke this silence with a small chuckle.

“You know, Shaun, this is not how I imagined this situation going.” He glanced at the man in question who was still hiding. Claire stared at her boyfriend, befuddled, wondering where he was going with this. Jared soldiered on despite her eyes boring holes through his head.

“I thought  _ you _ would laugh at  _ us _ . Polyamory is a relatively new concept that isn’t well understood. He pulled his legs to his chest, unconsciously mimicking Shaun’s pose. 

“Claire and I have been dating for a while and we’ve both had a crush on you for a long time. I’m thankful that we were comfortable enough with each other to admit it.” He blushed at his confession and rested his head on his folded arms. A small rock on the ground caught his attention. He focused on it while he talked, tracing the intricate fractures throughout its surface and wondering if it was a cliche metaphor for themselves.

“We talked it out, and Claire decided she wanted us to ask you out.  _ I _ thought she was crazy. There’s no way you’d be up for this. You’d think we were crazy and never want to be friends with us again. But I guess that was just my insecurities talking.” He paused to gauge Shaun’s reaction. To his relief, Shaun had untangled himself from the tight ball he was in and was staring at him intently.

“It took some convincing from Claire, but I finally agreed to try it. So that’s why we’re here. There’s no malicious intent, I swear on my life. Ask Claire. I tried on seven different shirts before I came here. I know we haven’t talked much, but I wanted to make a good impression on you.” Claire grinned, remembering her boyfriend’s frivolity that morning. Shaun considered this and scrunched up his nose. “Why?”

Jared rubbed the back of his head. “I’m not the best at fashion. I never know which two pieces of clothing go together or what to--”

“No.”

“No?” Jared repeated. Shaun’s hands inched their way closer to his face. Claire gently guided them back down and handed him a stick of gum she fished out from her purse. Shaun gingerly unwrapped the treat and popped it into his mouth, bobbing his head as thanks. Claire smiled at him while nodding her head in Jared’s direction. “What were you gonna say?” 

Shaun rolled the foil of the gum wrapper between his fingers before crushing the spiky edges between his thumb and index finger. He knew what he wanted to say this time, but he was afraid. The question burned at the back of his throat, begging to be let out.

“Why would you have a crush on me?” He muttered. Jared let out a small whistle, causing Claire to laugh.

“That’s gonna be a really fuckin’ long list,” he grinned. Shaun flinched at the language. “Sorry,” Jared amended quickly, before turning to his girlfriend. “Claire, help me out on this one. I might forget something.” 

“Gladly.”

“First of all,” Jared started, holding up a “one” with his right hand, “You are the nicest guy I know. Seeing you get all worked up about your patients is the cutest thing ever. You care so much about everyone, but no one really stops to realise that. You’ve got a good soul, and even after all the sh--stuff people have said about you, you still find it in you to care about them.”

“But-,” Shaun tried to interrupt.

“Second of all,” Claire grinned, eager to have her turn, “You are so smart. The way you come up with solutions to surgery complications amazes me every day. I know you might not think so-- I get the feeling by the way you talk about yourself sometimes-- but I need you to believe me that it’s true. Sometimes, when I’m stuck on a problem, you know the expression, “What would Jesus do?” She tilted her head but didn’t wait for an answer. “Well, I think, ‘What would Shaun do?’ And I  _ still _ usually don’t come up with a plan half as good as yours.” Jared snickered, picking up where she left off. He refused to let Shaun protest.

“And your determination to learn?” Astounding. I wish I had a drive like yours. I’ll see you studying a book at lunch and by the next day, you’ll be spouting off facts that you memorized. It’s incredible. I think even Melendez gets frustrated sometimes because you know more about a topic than he does. You know, with his fragile ego, and all.” He gave them both a cheeky grin. Claire nodded and stroked her chin, pretending to be deep in thought.

“And can I just go off on a tangent and point out how handsome you are?” Jared groaned dramatically as he leaned back and faced his head toward the sky. “Oh my _God,_ I know! Shaun, remember those jeans you wore to the club that one time? Your ass looked so good. Am I right, Claire, or am I right?” Claire snorted and heartily agreed. Shaun was blushing to the roots of his hair. Claire decided to save him from his embarrassment and bring the conversation to a close.

“And finally, I guess… We just love the way you make us feel. Whenever you smile at me, I get butterflies in my stomach, just like I do with Jared. I love being around you, watching you succeed, giving you advice, working together with you, and talking to you… I want to get to know you. I want you to get to know us. Even if you don’t want to date, I hope that you’ll continue to be our friends. Right, Jared?” The man in question nodded. Shaun stared at them blankly before speaking.

“You really mean all of those things?”

“Of course!” Jared and Claire assured.

“And you’re not… Joking?”

“Never,” Claire shook her head, her voice absolute, “Never about something like this.”

“You promise?” He pressed. Kalu playfully rolled his eyes.

“Oh my God, Shaun, I can write a written statement in my blood, sign it, and have the devil endorse it if you’d like, but I swear, we are being completely serious.”

“That’s gross,” Shaun wrinkled his nose. 

Claire smiled at him, “Then just give us a chance. We won’t betray your trust. I promise.” Shaun thought for a moment while the pair waited with bated breath.

“Okay,” he concluded, bobbing his head, “Okay. I’ll try it.” Jared and Claire beamed at one another and cheered. 

“Yes! Oh my God! Is this real life?” Claire laughed and engulfed her boyfriends in a group hug. She made sure that she didn’t hug  _ too _ tight; Shaun hated being squeezed. It must have been to light for Jared, however, as he broke free, picked up his partners, and spun them around while laughing.

“Put me down! Put me down!” Shaun cried. Jared obliged and let the other two catch their breath. “Don’t do that again,” Shaun demanded, pointing a finger in his direction. Jared smiled and held his hands up in surrender. Shaun straightened his shirt and peeked shyly at his new partners.

“But the hug was nice. Can we do it again?” 

“Of course. But after, do you guys want to go out for  _ actual _ breakfast?” Claire asked. “This place had some shitty food. I’m pretty sure that croissant was pure flour.”

Jared snickered. “Fine. But Shaun’s paying this time. If I keep paying, you guys are going to run me into the poor house.”

“Fine. But I want pancakes,” Shaun rebutted, gently interlocking his fingers with his partners’ as they started walking to the car. Claire glanced at their woven hands and grinned. Jared looked like he wanted to do a victory dance. She rubbed her thumb lightly over his hand and repeated the silly nuance her boyfriends had created.

“Fine. Pancakes it is, then.” 

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> And then they went to IHOP, had a pancake eating competition, attracted a rather large crowd to their table, ate a grand total of 37 pancakes, Claire won, with 20 of them being her own, Jared made her a trophy out of sugar packets, Shaun watched in horror as he ate his own four pancakes, Glassy came in to grab himself some eggs and bacon to-go, saw the trio making a mess and signing autographs on customers' receipts, sprinted out of the restaurant and drove back to Wyoming to avoid this crazy trio, the end, it's five in the morning and I haven't slept a wink, hope you enjoyed


End file.
